Three teams from the Ridge Meadows Minor Baseball Association competed at the provincials this past weekend.
The mosquito A team finished fourth. The bantam A team finished third overall, while the college prep team was eliminated.
Mosquito A team members: Braeden Fotheringhame, Brayden Schulte, Eli Pearse, Gavin Robbie, Graeden Hough, Jake Clarke, Jakob Schneider, Jaxon Godin, Linden Happell, Nicholas MacEwan and Vincent Longmuir.
The Royals started the tournament with an 11-11 tie vs host, Richmond City Chuckers. Starting pitcher, Clarke performed well, with Robbie and Godin coming in to help finish the game.
Game 2 saw the Royals win 15-5 over Prince George, led by strong pitching performances by Morwood, Hough, and MacEwan.
In Game 3, the Royals put in a complete effort and came away with an 11-2 win over Nanaimo. Schulte pitched three innings to set the tone, while Pearse and Fotheringhame followed suite to seal the victory.
The Royals ran into a desperate White Rock team in a position to be eliminated from the tournament. White Rock came away with the victory, 16-2, handing the Royals their fist loss of the tournament.
The team regrouped for the semi-finals and put forward their best team effort of the tournament. Despite the team’s best performance of the year, the Royals came up just short scoring a 9-6 loss to Cloverdale Spurs, who continued their undefeated season en route to becoming the provincial champions.
The starting pitcher for the Royals was Schneider, going 3.3 strong innings, followed by Robbie and Godin.
In a tightly contested bronze medal game with the Tri-Cities, the Royals came up just short with a 12-9 loss. Pitchers Clarke, Robbie, Pearse and Godin performed well, and were led by catcher Happell.
Game MVPs went to Clarke, Schulte, Morwood, Longmuir, Schneider and Happell.
Skills competition winners: Around the horn, Schulte, Happell, Hough, Pearse and Clarke.
The bantam AA and peewee A teams also made provincials this season, but were eliminated the previous weekend.
The peewee A team lost its first game 20-6 to Campbell River, then fell 11-5 to Nanaimo. Ridge defeated Duncan 15-9, but then lost to undefeated North Delta 13-12 in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Game MVPs for the peewee team: Sean Nisbet, Hanns Hartmann, Jamie Huurman and Duncan Jackson Fotheringhame.
Previously, the Ridge midget AA team hosted the provincials, and went 0-4.
Both Ridge juniors teams play this coming weekend at Hammond and Larry Walker Field.
